Minor Immunoreactivity in GDNF-, BDNF-, or NT-3-Treated Substantia Nigra Allografts

Glial-cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) stimulates the survival of dopaminergic neurons. Little is known, however, about the possible immune sequelae of GDNF exposure or of exposure to other putative trophic factors. To address these questions, pieces of mesencephalic tissue, substantia nigra, from 15-day-old donor embryos were transplanted into the anterior chamber of the eye of adult male Sprague- Dawley recipient rats. At 5-day intervals, an aliquot (0.5 μg) of GDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), or cytochrome-C (CC) was injected into the anterior chamber of the eye of the recipients, and the sizes of the transplants were measured. GDNF increased transplant survival and growth. On day 42, all rats were sacrificed, and the grafts were evaluated by cresyl-violet staining and by immunohistochemistry using antibodies raised against neurofilament (NF), tyrosine hydroxylase, or glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), as well as the following monoclonai antibodies: OX-38 anti-CD4, OX-8 anti-CD8, OX-18 anti-MHC class I, OX-6 anti- MHC class II, OX-42 anti-CD11b, R-73 anti-α and anti-β T-cell receptor, and EDI raised against monocytes/macrophages. BDNF-treated grafts showed only weak immunoreactivity, and even weaker reactions were seen in grafts treated with NT-3, GDNF, or CC. No single immune system marker was significantly elevated in grafts from any treatment group. We used OX-42 and EDI to study possible alterations of microglial components. Ramified microglial cells were found in GDNF-treated grafts and to a lesser extent in NT-3 and BDNF-treated grafts. EDl-labeled reactive microglial components were found in NT-3- and BDNF-treated grafts. Additionally, large and rounded OX-42-positive phagocytic cells were found in NT-3-treated grafts. Together with our previous finding that GDNF treatment of spinal cord transplants activates immune responses and leads to microglial activation, our data dempnstrate that although treatment with GDNF and to some degree with BDNF can enhance immune responses to immunogenic grafts, such as fetal spinal cord grafts, but the trophic factors per se do not elicit any marked response in non-immunogenic grafts like substantia nigra

Feasibility investigations for vibration-based remote scour monitoring of railway bridges

This study investigates feasibility of vibration-based scour monitoring as an alternative method for the impact test. A wireless sensing device was adopted for the long-term monitoring which can be remotely controlled. The target bridge was reinforced against scouring after the long-term scour monitoring. This study examines the feasibility of scour detection by comparing the vibration characteristics of the piers before and after the reinforcement. Observations for the bridge pier before reinforcement demonstrated that the probability distribution of dominant frequencies under higher water level during flood of the pier showed clearly different pattern to those under lower water level. On the other hand, those probability distributions of dominant frequencies of the reinforced pier showed constant pattern despite of the water leve

Optical Alignment of the High-Precision UV Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP2)

No abstract availabl

A Japanese History lesson for understanding diversity

This study proposes the Japanese history lesson aiming for promoting deeper understanding diversity because the previous studies in relation to historical inquiry in Japan did not mention about connection with diversity. After conducting the lessons, we found that students mentioned the differences of people’s value between past and present based on the social structure and notions. At the end of study we suggested the reform of history education have more possibilities to develop democratic citizenship

Research Activities in the Department of Physical Therapy

[Introduction] It is already fifty years since the Japanese law of physical therapists and occupational therapists has been effective. The physical therapist is referred by the law as "the professionals who implements the physical therapy to persons with disabilities under the prescription of medical doctors". In fifty years, however, the target of physical therapy has been significantly expanded. The subject for physical therapy now includes the patients in acute disease just after the surgical operation in addition to those in rehabilitation stage. In other words, the physical therapy is now recognized as the indispensable intervention to the subject with acute as well as chronic disorders. On the other hand, due to a rapid transition of the society into the aged society, prevention of diseases, and decline of activity capacity due to the aging have become major issues for the physical therapy

Immunogenic Comparison of Chimeric Adenovirus 5/35 Vector Carrying Optimized Human Immunodeficiency Virus Clade C Genes and Various Promoters

Adenovirus vector-based vaccine is a promising approach to protect HIV infection. However, a recent phase IIb clinical trial using the vector did not show its protective efficacy against HIV infection. To improve the vaccine, we explored the transgene protein expression and its immunogenicity using optimized codon usage, promoters and adaptors. We compared protein expression and immunogenicity of adenovirus vector vaccines carrying native or codon usage-optimized HIV-1 clade C gag and env genes expression cassettes driven by different promoters (CMV, CMVi, and CA promoters) and adapters (IRES and F2A). The adenovirus vector vaccine containing optimized gag gene produced higher Gag protein expression and induced higher immune responses than the vector containing native gag gene in mice. Furthermore, CA promoter generated higher transgene expression and elicited higher immune responses than other two popularly used promoters (CMV and CMVi). The second gene expression using F2A adaptor resulted in higher protein expression and immunity than that of using IRES and direct fusion protein. Taken together, the adenovirus vector containing the expression cassette with CA promoter, optimized HIV-1 clade C gene and an F2A adaptor produced the best protein expression and elicited the highest transgene-specific immune responses. This finding would be promising for vaccine design and gene therapy

Chromosome Doubling in Limonium bellidifolium (Gouan) Dumort. by Colchicine Treatment of Seeds

Limonium bellidifolium (2n = 2x = 18), a perennial statice belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae, is cultivated as a garden plant or for cut flowers and is an important breeding material for the production of hybrid cultivars in the genus. In this study, chromosome doubling in L. bellidifolium was attempted to increase the variability in horticultural traits. Seeds of this species were treated with an antimitotic agent, colchicine, at different concentrations and exposure periods. The treated seeds were sown in soil in a cell tray and the seedlings were grown in a greenhouse. More than 50% of the seedlings treated with colchicine for 24 or 48 h, irrespective of the concentration, survived for 4 months after treatment. Most of the seedlings treated for 72 h at any concentration showed very poor growth and abnormal thickening of the hypocotyl, and ultimately died. The surviving seedlings were grown in 9-cm pots. Flow cytometry analysis of leaf tissues showed that 2.5%–5% of plants that received 0.05% colchicine for 72 h, 0.25% colchicine for 24 h, 0.25% colchicine for 48 h, or 0.5% colchicine for 48 h were tetraploid (4x) or mixoploid (2x + 4x). The highest frequencies of tetraploids and mixoploids occurred following treatment with 0.05% colchicine for 72 h. These results showed that colchicine treatment of seeds is effective for chromosome doubling in L. bellidifolium. After 3 years of cultivation, the morphological characteristics of diploid and tetraploid L. bellidifolium plants at the flowering stage were investigated. The stomatal density was lower in all investigated tetraploid and mixoploid plants than in the control diploid plant. The stomatal length was 1.1- to 1.5-fold higher in all tetraploid and mixoploid plants than in the control. Tetraploid plants tended to have wider and thicker leaves than the control and also produced larger flowers

Remote Ocean Response to the Madden–Julian Oscillation during the DYNAMO Field Campaign: Impact on Somali Current System and the Seychelles–Chagos Thermocline Ridge

During the CINDY/DYNAMO field campaign, exceptionally large upper ocean responses to strong westerly wind events associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) were observed in the central equatorial Indian Ocean. Strong eastward equatorial currents in the upper ocean lasted more than one month from late November 2011 to early January 2012. The remote ocean response to these unique MJO events are investigated using a high resolution (1/25°) global ocean general circulation model along with the satellite altimeter data. The local ocean response to the MJO events are realistically simulated by the global model based on the comparison with the data collected during the field campaign. The satellite altimeter data show that anomalous sea surface height (SSH) associated with the strong eastward jets propagated eastward as an equatorial Kelvin wave. The positive SSH anomalies then partly propagate westward as a reflected Rossby wave. The SSH anomalies associated with the reflected Rossby wave in the southern hemisphere propagate all the way to the western boundary. These remote ocean responses are well simulated by the global model. The analysis of the model simulation indicates the significant influence of reflected Rossby waves on sub-seasonal variability of Somali current system near the equator. The analysis further suggests that the reflected Rossby wave causes a substantial change in the structure of the Seychelles–Chagos thermocline ridge, which contributes to significant SST anomalies

Remote Ocean Response to the Madden–Julian Oscillation during the DYNAMO Field Campaign: Impact on Somali Current System and the Seychelles–Chagos Thermocline Ridge

During the CINDY/DYNAMO field campaign, exceptionally large upper ocean responses to strong westerly wind events associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) were observed in the central equatorial Indian Ocean. Strong eastward equatorial currents in the upper ocean lasted more than one month from late November 2011 to early January 2012. The remote ocean response to these unique MJO events are investigated using a high resolution (1/25°) global ocean general circulation model along with the satellite altimeter data. The local ocean response to the MJO events are realistically simulated by the global model based on the comparison with the data collected during the field campaign. The satellite altimeter data show that anomalous sea surface height (SSH) associated with the strong eastward jets propagated eastward as an equatorial Kelvin wave. The positive SSH anomalies then partly propagate westward as a reflected Rossby wave. The SSH anomalies associated with the reflected Rossby wave in the southern hemisphere propagate all the way to the western boundary. These remote ocean responses are well simulated by the global model. The analysis of the model simulation indicates the significant influence of reflected Rossby waves on sub-seasonal variability of Somali current system near the equator. The analysis further suggests that the reflected Rossby wave causes a substantial change in the structure of the Seychelles–Chagos thermocline ridge, which contributes to significant SST anomalies